The history of France and Prussia has been shaped over many centuries by fruitful and now almost forgotten relationships. There were repeatedly points of contact that enriched the development of both countries: starting with the Huguenots, who modernized social life in Prussia, through the Enlightenment and the significant influence of Voltaire and Maupertuis at the court of Frederick the Great, the French Revolution and Napoleon, up to the Revolution of 1848. The devastating turning point in their shared history came only with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 and the two World Wars of the 20th century.

Philippe Meyer is a professor of medicine at the University of Paris and a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He worked for seven years in Berlin at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, among other positions. Philippe Meyer has published numerous books on the philosophy of medicine and the sciences and has been researching the field of Franco-German history for many decades. His most recent book, "Histoire de l'Alsace" (2008), includes a foreword by Rudolf von Thadden.